Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez will not be resigning. He had written a dramatic letter addressed to the whole country warning that he might leave us, but now he says he has decided against it.
“But,” warned the human albatross around Spain’s neck, “This won’t be business as usual. Things will be different [un punto y aparte].”
His transparently theatrical move was a reaction to his wife, Begoña Gomez, coming under scrutiny.
The head of a Madrid court, judge Juan Carlos Peinado, has initiated proceedings against Gomez, who stands accused of corruption and influence peddling.
So offended was the PM that the legal system might function as though it were independent, that Sánchez feigned the end of his tenure in office, shaking his head, disappointed at a nation unworthy of his instruction.
Alas, the martyr will remain at his pulpit.
The speech in which he made the announcement, however, should give us pause for thought. He called on supporters to put pressure on those who would get in the way of his effort to cleanse the country of its “toxic” climate and “regenerate” democracy.
The leader of the opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, described this as the most dangerous speech he has heard from Sánchez, and for good reason.
As retired politician Alejo Vidal-Quadras (who has recovered from the attempt on his life and is in good form) observed recently, Sánchez is an agile political actor, one whose theatrics repeatedly catch out his opponents. A prime example of this was his organising of an early general election, following municipal elections which left his party languishing. It was risky, but it worked. Instead of burning out a few more years, he took what support he still had and restarted the clock for another four years.
We can now expect a frontal attack on the judiciary, with the excuse that the “far right” has somehow infiltrated it to the point of going after the despot’s blameless wife.
Specifically, Sánchez will be trying to renew the General Council of Judicial Power, the constitutional body that governs all of the judiciary of Spain, and pack it with political appointees.
His speech, then, is no lie: things will be different, either because he succeeds in eroding the country’s democracy, or because the opposition finally lands a win and defends the country’s institutions against political usurpation.
Spain Facing Imminent Attack on Judicial Independence
Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez
JOHN THYS / AFP
Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez will not be resigning. He had written a dramatic letter addressed to the whole country warning that he might leave us, but now he says he has decided against it.
“But,” warned the human albatross around Spain’s neck, “This won’t be business as usual. Things will be different [un punto y aparte].”
His transparently theatrical move was a reaction to his wife, Begoña Gomez, coming under scrutiny.
The head of a Madrid court, judge Juan Carlos Peinado, has initiated proceedings against Gomez, who stands accused of corruption and influence peddling.
So offended was the PM that the legal system might function as though it were independent, that Sánchez feigned the end of his tenure in office, shaking his head, disappointed at a nation unworthy of his instruction.
Alas, the martyr will remain at his pulpit.
The speech in which he made the announcement, however, should give us pause for thought. He called on supporters to put pressure on those who would get in the way of his effort to cleanse the country of its “toxic” climate and “regenerate” democracy.
The leader of the opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, described this as the most dangerous speech he has heard from Sánchez, and for good reason.
As retired politician Alejo Vidal-Quadras (who has recovered from the attempt on his life and is in good form) observed recently, Sánchez is an agile political actor, one whose theatrics repeatedly catch out his opponents. A prime example of this was his organising of an early general election, following municipal elections which left his party languishing. It was risky, but it worked. Instead of burning out a few more years, he took what support he still had and restarted the clock for another four years.
We can now expect a frontal attack on the judiciary, with the excuse that the “far right” has somehow infiltrated it to the point of going after the despot’s blameless wife.
Specifically, Sánchez will be trying to renew the General Council of Judicial Power, the constitutional body that governs all of the judiciary of Spain, and pack it with political appointees.
His speech, then, is no lie: things will be different, either because he succeeds in eroding the country’s democracy, or because the opposition finally lands a win and defends the country’s institutions against political usurpation.
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